Today we had Jim from Folklore Music and Arts visit all the kindergarten classes and introduce us to the musical cultures of Africa, China, Russia, South Asia, etc. The gym was filled with drums and string instruments from around the world. We played small drums and xylophones and played them different ways. We played them loudly, softly and showed how we might play if we were angry, happy, sad, etc. We could not believe all the different instruments Jim had from all his world travels.

Our class have been busy preparing our kindergarten garden for the winter by pulling weeds and cutting back our perennials. We also raked the leaves and picked up litter at the front of our school. We collected 1 bag of garbage and 5 leaf bags. Only a few of us wanted to help with the leaves but we had to call for more help as the clean up job was too much for us. We called for more room 102 troops and the work was done much sooner. The yard looked so good but the next day more leaves blew onto the grass and more litter appeared.

We watched a video called “The Poppy Story” and learned why we wear poppies on Remembrance Day and collect monies to help our soldiers and their families. We listed many words that describe our soldiers: brave, kind, strong, protect us, etc. and we also made poppy hand prints. Thank you to Mr. Davis and Mrs. Davis for organizing our Remembrance Day Assembly today. The kindergarten classes sang “Peace Like A River” and “Give a Little Love” with Mr. Crone and “Highway of Heroes” was performed by Mrs. Braida and Mrs. Deane’s kindergartens. Ms. Barrett’s grade 5 class placed a flower on a cross for fallen Ontario soldiers. Each class made a poppy wreath or cross and these were placed up at the front.

We had a busy day on Halloween. All the kindergarten children went on a parade through some of the other classrooms and the office to show off their costumes. There were Superheros, princesses and many others. We also went to a dance-a-thon in the gym raising funds for our school library. Thank you to those families for their generous donations. We lit up our jack-o-lantern and turned off the lights and enjoyed some cookies and fruit. Hope all had a safe Halloween!
We did some Halloween activities such as using white chalk on black paper to make Halloween pictures. We counted spiders and placed them in their webs. We made Alphabet Stew in a cauldron making the letter sounds. “Bippity boppity brew. Let’s make alphabet stew.”